Melanie Nicotra starts her day by checking on her crops. She’s been farming for more than 30 years, so she’s got a system for the hard work.
“My son and my brother do it,” Nicotra says with a laugh.

It’s late in the season, so she’s mainly harvesting broccoli and collard greens. Then she packs up the truck, and makes the quarter mile trek to her roadside stand.

“Always pretty," Nicotra jokes, getting into her cargo van. "With a knee replacement? Always pretty.”

She’s been on the corner where Collamer Road turns into North Manlius Road for a few years. Before that she had small stores, and she still sometimes participates in the CNY regional market, but helping her neighbors at the stand, especially during the pandemic, has been the most rewarding.

“Unable or unwilling to go into a big store. And they’re just so happy to be able to pull up," Nicotra says, "Especially the handicapped, they just pull right up, say what they need and we run it out to them.”

“You go to a store, you don’t know who’s touched it, handled it, how many people are in and out," says Kevin Arroway, a frequent customer of the stand. "Here it’s open air, people aren’t handling anything. You come in, pick it, and take it with you.”

Arroway said he’s been to the stand five times over since September. He’s taking advantage of the time the stand is open, because the schedule changes with the seasons.

The stand pops up two days before she harvests,  which is unannounced. It closes just the same.

“The day we’re done, the tent will come down, everything will be gone the same day." Nicotra says.  "There is no notice it’s just done;  I’m on vacation."

I asked her what she does the rest of the year. With a laugh she simply said, "Work!"

While she doesn’t know for sure, Nicotra told me the stand will only be up for a few more weeks, and she’ll be on her relaxing vacation by November.